This week our goal is to make sure we are squared away with what we have to do for the unit plan portfolio and when we need to do it. In addition, by the end of the week my aim is that we've drafted a sequence or progression to the unit and that we're able to identify the WHERETO elements of this progression.
Tuesday, April 6
Writing our way in ... round robin writing. We begin with the prompt ... "It was a dark, cold night when ..." (We're doing this mostly to get the creative juices flowing, to do something together, and to have some fun).
Reminder of the progression we're going through in this class
Understandings: Goals and Essential Questions
to
Evidence: Performance Tasks, Other evidence (like quizzes, prompts, etc), Self-Assessment and Reflections
to
Performance Tasks (Using GRASPS to design PTs for students to read)
to
Rubrics (Creating categories to judge performance and to assess student understanding)
to
Designing Lessons: Using WHERETO to organize a progression; Before/During/After activities to texts we read or view
Timeline for the remaining class sessions (this isn't much different than the syllabus)
4/6
4/8 - WHERETO sequence and front-loading drafts. We'll talk about front-loading options and we'll look at sample lesson plans
4/13 Bring in a draft of 1 Lesson Plan (this is just so you can get some feedback on the format before you create multiple lesson plans)
4/15 Draft of rationale for unit
4/20 Lesson Plan drafts (for three more lesson plans)
4/22 Lesson Plan drafts (for the final three lesson plans)
4/27
4/29 Final Unit Plan Portfolio is due
5/4 Book club conversation on young people
5/6 Final Reflection on composing your unit plan
We won't meet during finals week, unless you'd like to conference with me. Also, if you'd like to meet one-on-one or with a couple of other people while you are putting together your unit, we can certainly do that as well. In fact, I'd like it.
Required elements to the unit plan portfolios - this is the list we looked at earlier in the semester and is on the assignment sheet (found here
Frontloading activities - what do they accomplish / what's their purpose? what are some possible front-loading activities? what order makes the most sense in a front-loading sequence?
Purpose of "frontloading" a unit = frontloading refers to activities that occur at the beginning of a unit. The purpose of frontloading activities is to provide the initial purpose, motivation, and background to help students bridge what they already know to the concepts and processes they will engage with during a unit of study.
How does your activity engage and/or build the students' prior conceptual knowledge or background information regarding your unit theme/topic?
How does the activity work to motivate studetns for reading and inquiry regarding the unit topic/theme?
How can you justify your frontloading in terms of existing student interests and knowledge? In other words, can you explain WHY you are certain that the frontloading activity will be motivating and successful? (p. 74)
A roster or menu of possible frontloading activities
Opinionaires
Ranking scenarios
Autobiographical writing before reading
Questionable, controversial, or thought-provoking quotes
Viewing media and/or images
Reading children's books or other approachable and familiar texts
This week our goal is to make sure we are squared away with what we have to do for the unit plan portfolio and when we need to do it. In addition, by the end of the week my aim is that we've drafted a sequence or progression to the unit and that we're able to identify the WHERETO elements of this progression.
Tuesday, April 6
Writing our way in ... round robin writing. We begin with the prompt ... "It was a dark, cold night when ..." (We're doing this mostly to get the creative juices flowing, to do something together, and to have some fun).
Reminder of the progression we're going through in this class
Understandings: Goals and Essential Questions
to
Evidence: Performance Tasks, Other evidence (like quizzes, prompts, etc), Self-Assessment and Reflections
to
Performance Tasks (Using GRASPS to design PTs for students to read)
to
Rubrics (Creating categories to judge performance and to assess student understanding)
to
Designing Lessons: Using WHERETO to organize a progression; Before/During/After activities to texts we read or view
Timeline for the remaining class sessions (this isn't much different than the syllabus)
4/6
4/8 - WHERETO sequence and front-loading drafts. We'll talk about front-loading options and we'll look at sample lesson plans
4/13 Bring in a draft of 1 Lesson Plan (this is just so you can get some feedback on the format before you create multiple lesson plans)
4/15 Draft of rationale for unit
4/20 Lesson Plan drafts (for three more lesson plans)
4/22 Lesson Plan drafts (for the final three lesson plans)
4/27
4/29 Final Unit Plan Portfolio is due
5/4 Book club conversation on young people
5/6 Final Reflection on composing your unit plan
We won't meet during finals week, unless you'd like to conference with me. Also, if you'd like to meet one-on-one or with a couple of other people while you are putting together your unit, we can certainly do that as well. In fact, I'd like it.
Required elements to the unit plan portfolios - this is the list we looked at earlier in the semester and is on the assignment sheet (found here
A rationale for this unit of study
Thursday, April 8
Looking at lesson plan template in order to make sure we are clear on the required sections for a lesson plan in this unit
Frontloading activities - what do they accomplish / what's their purpose? what are some possible front-loading activities? what order makes the most sense in a front-loading sequence?
Purpose of "frontloading" a unit = frontloading refers to activities that occur at the beginning of a unit. The purpose of frontloading activities is to provide the initial purpose, motivation, and background to help students bridge what they already know to the concepts and processes they will engage with during a unit of study.
Some questions to ask yourself of frontloading activities ... (from Jeff Wilhelm's (2007) Engaging Readers and Writers with Inquiry )
A roster or menu of possible frontloading activities